Song of Madness
by From Beyond The Stars
Summary: Loneliness is only a step away from the long fall they call insanity. And as the loneliness of heroism sets in, a guardian watches her ward slip into nightmares and madness, a song that sends corruption through his veins & the turning of a windmill. OoT
1. Song of Madness

_DISCLAIMER: I do not own Legend of Zelda and make no monehz from these writings. If I did own LOZ, you'd know about it. =3  
_

Sometimes, Navi thought they should rename the Song of Storms, the Windmill Hut, to the Song of Madness. For every time it's haunting melody came into her hearing, she could not help but shiver and stare sadly at Link.

For when all was said and done, he was just a boy. A young boy thrust into a world of danger and legends, a young man missing the peaceful days of his old home. Often, he doubted whether he really was the Hero of Time, why him. He was just a boy from Kokiri. People often cannot understand the loneliness of heroism. It is not the riches and glory everyone presumes it to be. It was taking it's toll on Link's mind, trapped between his carefree youth and his unnatural adulthood. It was the madness creeping into his soul.

She could not blame him for his anger, for the bitter tears. He was tormented by his purpose and his duty. It seemed like the wonderful innocence he possessed as a child had been stolen away, every inch of the world was full of danger. There was no where he could relax. No where was safe. All the people he knew had disappeared, and he was left so totally and utterly alone in the middle of a epic quest he simply wasn't ready for. She shook her head. It could not be right to burden a child with prophecy and seal him away for seven years, destroying his mind.

That melody seems to encapsulate it all. The descent to madness. And at the end of it all, what was he supposed to do? Go on life like it was normal? What was "normal" to him, the child who skips between time, the slayer of evil, the hero of time, the boy without a fairy? Sitting with his legs dangling over the side of Kakariko Well, humming Saria's Song, for a blissful moment he was without worry. Yet then his eyes clouded again, as he stood up. "Come on, Navi. We must enter the Temple of Fire. The fate of Hyrule depends on us" She sighed. There was never a chance for rest. He had slept fitfully for days, muttering the words "Ganondorf", "Zelda" and "Legend" in his sleep as he restlessly tossed and turned.

Navi landed on his shoulder "Saving Hyrule can wait. C'mon, why don't we a pay a visit back home?"

Link looked at her bewildered "Home?" he spoke, as if the word was lost to him.

"Home." She repeated softly "The Kokiri. We haven't seen them since we cleared the Deku Baba's out the place" Link was silent, but picked up his shield and climbed upon Epona, who was grazing nearby. Charging out onto Hyrule Field in the earliest rays of sunset, he wordlessly rode toward the passage he had left in awe and wonder, seven years ago. His head was dipped as they made their way through the Lost Woods, and out into the place for so many years Link called Home. The Kokiri looked on in astonishment as their first proper look at what Link had become, how he was not one of them and he had matured. He jumped off, and touched the base of his tree house, tracing the faded images carved into the bark so long ago. Climbing up the ladder, he pressed his hand to his old name plaque, lowered his head and cried.

The Hero of Time had truly been broken.

Yet throughout it all, Navi found herself humming The Song of Storms...

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_Authors Notes/Afterthoughts_

_I have been continuously listening to the Song of Storms, or more precisely, the Windmill Hut Song. Ever since I watched a funny flash parody of LOZ which used the song at the end to represent Link going mad, I have always associated it with insanity. Coupled with my mind who has been musing on Zelda OoT lately, I wondered what it was like to go to sleep a kid and wake up a adult. It must scee-rew yer mind a bit. **PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LISTEN TO THE WINDMILL HUT SONG/SONG OF STORMS WHILE YOU READ THIS. You can find it at VGmusic.**  
_

_But I still love the sexiness that is Link =D_

_Enjoy_

_From Beyond The Stars_


	2. As The Windmill Rotates

_Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Zelda and make no money from these writings._

-As The Windmill Rotates-

It was a silence, despite Link's soft crying. The Kokiri gathered around, fearful and yet in awe of the boy without a fairy. There was no Saria among them, noted Navi, before she remembered the Kokiri girl's new role as Sage of the Forest. But many faces, she did remember. Mido, Fado, it was like stepping back in time. She winced at the irony of her words. Since the Kokiri stayed in their houses through the invasion of the Deku Baba's and Octoroks, it had never felt this..nostalgic. She knew Link felt it too. The day the Deku Tree called him was as fresh in his mind as if it were only yesterday, despite it being seven years in the past. Of course it would be to him, for it had been such a short time since his awakening.

Mido bravely half-climbed the ladder, before spotting Navi "N..Navi? Where..where's Link? Is he Link? No...he can't be.." Navi nodded her head sadly, though it was impossible to see. "He was never a Kokiri. He grew up. In a very round-a-bout kind of way" she jingled. Mido looked back to Link. He went to say something. but jumped off the ladder in respect to let Link have his space. Navi was suprised Mido had it in him to be respectful to anybody, let alone Link.

Eventually, Link's quiet tears trailed away and the Kokiri returned to their buisness. He looked to Navi "I'm sorry, Navi. I don't know what ca.." she hushed him "You have nothing to apologize for. Let's go inside, and you can rest awhile." And as if he was a child, she added "Nothing can hurt you here any longer"

Despite the fact Link's legs stuck out of the small bed a fair amount, he was asleep almost instantly. She smiled, as he curled up under the blankets. He did not cry out in his sleep this time, it was not disturbed by dreams. For the first time, Navi thought, since leaving the forest, Link slept soundly again. Her objective was accomplished. She had brought Link home, and perhaps his mind could be soothed through deep, dreamless sleep. She cared for him deeply, his welfare meant everything to her. While she had been reluctant to take the boy on at the orders of the Deku Tree, she had become attached to the Hylian. She would aid him for as long as he needed her.

Still, his troubled mind could never be healed. Not again. She knew this. Whatever happened to the world, Link would be forever split between timelines. He would always be a child in a adults body, with his innocent view to the world tarnished by all the carnage he had witnessed. She just hoped, that in time, he could leave this troubled era behind and start anew...

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_Authors Note/Afterthoughts_

_I have to stop putting the Windmill Hut Song on repeat! Its crazy addictive! I wanted to write another LINK IS MAD bit, but I knew essentialy, it would be a carbon copy of __Song of Madness. So I wrote a "sequel" to it, if you like, but it's not worth making a whole new story, so I added it as a chapter._

_Enjoy,_

_From Beyond The Stars_


	3. Red Storm

_Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHINGS. Srsly._

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**Red Storm**

**_-Song of Madness ficlet-_**

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Navi felt powerless. So hopelessly powerless, unable to comfort him in any way. He was, once more, sitting on the edge of Kakariko well, but not in happy peace, but in anger. He picked up a stone and thumped it against the ground. She desperatley wished she could do something for him, like the other fairies could. She wished she could soothe his singed, burned skin, she wished she could heal the nasty gash in his side, but even then, she would not be able to calm his anger. He had just come from the Fire Temple, after awaking Darunia as Sage of Fire. He couldn't stand seeing another childhood face for just a few moments, before it was cruelly taken again. Bitter tears welled at his eyes, and he clenched a blackened fist.

"Is this all some kind of cruel joke? Lets make all the Sages people he knows! Lets put him through more bloody agony!" He cried, raising his fist to hit the stone wall of the well, before lowering it again and burying his head in his grimy hands. "I can't do this anymore, Navi! Din knows I tried! I'm not cut out for all this heroic buisness! If only I hadn't been so stubborn! If only, I'd just gone back home after Mido refused to let me pass! Maybe, just maybe, I wouldn't be here now! Oh sweet Nayru...i'm going to go insane, I swear..."

The words stung Navi more than Link could imagine. For only a few days ago, she was musing on Link's current mental condition. Nothing she could say or do could offer him any solace. She didn't think anything could now. For even if he just went back, he'd still remember. And the memories were what tormented him most. "Link...I know this won't make it any easier..but even if you'd stayed with the Kokiri, you'd grow up someday..."

Link sighed "I suppose your right, Navi, but still...It was mine and Zelda's intervention that lead to Ganondorf getting into the Sacred Realm! I'm the problem! I'm the cause! They expect me to fix it and I can't, Navi, I just can't."

She didn't dare land on his shoulder, for fear of irritating any burned or sore skin. He looked terrible. His red Goron Tunic was in tatters, the exposed skin red and blackened, numerous burns on his hand where'd he clutched the Master Sword, boiling hot from the temples heat, in agony, determined to bring down Volvagia. His hair was dirty and smeared with black, staining the soft blonde locks. His matching red cap was also tattered, and it lay on the side of the well beside him. Instead, she landed beside him, on his still warm cap. "We need to get you cleaned up. Those burns and sores will become nasty if they are left like that. Your lucky we're in Kakariko. Drink some red potion. I'm afraid it won't do much for your skin, but it'll help clear up that wound on your side." She worried, deeply concerned for her friend. Link gave a sad, lopsided smile "Your like the mother I never had" A silence followed this, Navi not quite sure how to reply. He tugged a half empty vial of Red Potion from one of his numerous pockets, and uncorking the liquid, finished it off in a swift gulp. He recoiled and shivered a bit at the taste, unpleasant and edgy. Wincing slightly at the tingling sensation around his wound, he fumbled with his burned hands to get his Ocarina out. "Lake Hylia.." He said, to no-one in particular. Struggling to play with his sore hands, finally the notes of the Serenade of Water echoed around the quiet town, and Link disappered over Hyrule in a blaze of blue, leaving only a empty bottle behind.

His feet touched the stone platform, and pulling off his tunic, undershirt, boots, gloves and leggings, he scrambled into Lake Hylia's calm, cool waters, gasping as the freezing water licked his chargrilled skin. He took a deep breath and bobbed his head under, shaking it furiously with his hands, trying to clean out days worth of mud and grime, aswell as soot and singe. Navi watched at him sadly. She hated feeling so useless. Why couldn't she have been a healing fairy? Holding back tears of pain, he washed the dirt from his burns and wounds, each burned and raw fingertip brushing his skin agony for him. After a painful eternity, the pink burns were clean, the true extent visible. No part of Link's body seemed unblemished, where there were not burns, there bruises and cuts.

Link began to pull himself out, and Navi looked away respectfully as he dried and dressed. While neither of them would probably care anymore, she still felt it necessary...He unfolded his green Kokiri tunic from one of his many pockets, pulling it on. If he was going anywhere near fire again, he'd need to buy a new Goron tunic. His was ripped to shreds. Slumping down onto the warm, sun-kissed grasses, he rested his head on the tree and sighed deeply, closing his eyes. Navi curled up in his green cap beside him, her glowing fading slightly. The evening breeze was pleasantly warm, blowing in from the desert, and it ruffled his hair. Enjoying the wind on her wings, she drifted off into a nap, dreams filled with the hero she adored.

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_Author Notes/Afterthoughts_

_Hell yeah, you just read right. Link x Navi at the end there, blink and you'll miss it. Eagle Eyed readers will note the two chapters before this took place before the Fire Temple, well, this is a poor, singed Link after the Fire Temple. Nekkid Link! Although, I don't go into detail =( I'd rather leave it to your imaginations! Enjoy!_

_From Beyond the Stars_


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